Vernon Lewis Quinsey (born October 10, 1944) is a Canadian psychologist. He has studied violent crime offenders, sex offenders, sexually violent predators, juvenile delinquency, and ways to predict, assess, and manage individuals with antisocial tendencies. He has used Darwinian theory to explain antisocial behavior and actuarial methods to predict it. In addition, he has extensively studied clinical judgment.
Quinsey was born in Flin Flon, Manitoba. He earned a bachelor's degree summa cum laude from the University of North Dakota in 1966. He then entered the biopsychology program at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, as a university fellow, earning a master's degree in 1969 and a Ph.D. in 1970. He taught at Smith College while completing his graduate studies. In 1970 and 1971, Quinsey was a Killam postdoctoral fellow at Dalhousie University.
He joined the staff of Penetanguishene Mental Health Centre in 1971 and was appointed director of research in 1976. In 1984 he spent two years as a visiting scientist at the Institut Philippe-Pinel de Montréal and adjunct associate professor at Concordia University. In 1986 he was appointed associate professor in the Psychiatry Department at University of Toronto. He was then appointed professor and Queen's National Scholar in the Psychology Department at Queen's University in 1988, where he held cross positions in the Biology Department and Division of Forensic/Correctional Psychiatry. He was the head of the Psychology Department from 2004 to 2008. In 2009 he was appointed professor emeritus of psychology, biology, and psychiatry. He held an Ontario Mental Health Foundation senior research fellowship (1997-2003).
Quinsey chaired the Ontario Mental Health Foundation Research Committee from 1980 to 1982; the American National Institute of Mental Health Criminal and Violent Behavior Research Review Committee from 1986 to 1988, and the Ministry of Community and Social Services Research Review Committee from 1987 to 1991.
In 2008, Quinsey was awarded the Canadian Psychological Association's Donald O. Hebb Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology as a Science.
Quinsey had 30,032 citations identified by Google Scholar in December of 2024.

Selected publications

Quinsey VL (1970). Some applications of adaptation-level theory to aversive behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 441-450.

References

External links
Vernon Quinsey via Queen's University
Testimony by Quinsey for the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, via Parliament of Canada